(Sports Network) - The 2011 New England Patriots began their 11th straight
winning campaign with a record-setting performance in the season opener.

If they can duplicate what happened in their last meeting with the Tennessee
Titans, more records could fall on Sunday.

The Patriots hope to begin defense of their AFC championship with their ninth
straight season-opening win and give the Titans' Jake Locker a rude
introduction to life as a starting quarterback when the two teams square off
at LP Field.

New England has not posted a regular-season mark under .500 since 2000, three
seasons before it last suffered a Week 1 loss. That 31-0 setback at the
Buffalo Bills was one of two defeats the club suffered over the 2003 season's
first four weeks, but New England rebounded to go 14-2 and win the first of
back-to-back Super Bowl efforts.

The Patriots are coming off a 13-3 season, their ninth straight year with at
least 10 wins, but they lost for the second time in five years in the Super
Bowl to the New York Giants, this time by a slim 21-17 margin.

New England would love to get its 2012 season off to a similar start as last
year, when the franchise opened with a 38-24 win over the hosting Miami
Dolphins in which it set a club record with 622 total yards of offense.

Quarterback Tom Brady also set a franchise record with 517 passing yards to go
along with four touchdowns through the air, one a 99-yarder to wide receiver
Wes Welker.

Brady had an even better game the last time he faced the Titans, which
occurred on Oct. 18, 2009 in New England.

Playing in snowy conditions, he led a 59-0 Patriots' rout with six touchdown
passes, including five in the second quarter alone to set an NFL record. New
England's 45-0 advantage at halftime also set a new league record.

Welker caught 10 passes in that game for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

"We obviously made some big plays. It was a crazy game in terms of
conditions," Brady said this week in remembering the meeting. "It was raining
in pregame warmups and it turned into snow. It was the sixth game of the year,
so that's never happened up here. Last year it didn't snow at all, and that
was mid-October and we had a huge snowfall. They're memorable games when the
weather is as inclement as it was that particular day. I'm glad we executed
well. It was a fun day to be on offense."

Mike Munchak was an offensive line coach for the Titans in that game, but
enters his second season as the franchise's head coach. He led Tennessee to a
9-7 mark and second-place finish in the AFC South a year ago, with the club
just missing out on a playoff spot.

Munchak is ready to roll the dice in 2012 and is going with second-year Locker
as his starting quarterback over veteran Matt Hasselbeck.

"It's exciting for him, it's exciting for the franchise," Munchak said of
Locker's start. "You're playing against a pretty darn good football team to
start your career. I think we have to be smart on what we will ask him to do,
what we will have him do. I don't think we really have to limit him. He just
has to do things that he should, that he's good at right now."

With such a young signal-caller, veterans such as first-year Titan Steve
Hutchinson, who steps in to start at left guard, wide receiver Nate Washington
and running back Chris Johnson will need to be leaders.

Should the Titans get routed by the Pats again on Sunday, at least they'll
have the 2009 season to fall back on as a learning tool. The blowout loss to
New England capped an 0-6 start before Tennessee went 8-2 to finish out the
season at .500.

This weekend's opener will also feature a matchup between twin-brother
starting cornerbacks Devin and Jason McCourty. Devin enters his third year
with New England, while Jason -- a fellow Rutgers product -- is in his fourth
campaign with the Titans.

"Yeah, I mean there are definitely some similarities, as you would expect,"
noted Pats head coach Bill Belichick of the twins. "They're both fast [and]
they're both aggressive, good tacklers, good solid players. We'll never get a
better look at a guy than we will this week from Devin. It's about as close as
it gets."

SERIES HISTORY

Patriots lead 21-15-1

Streak: Patriots have won last three meetings
Last Meeting: Patriots 59, Titans 0 (Oct. 18, 2009 at New England)
Last Meeting at Site: Patriots 40, Titans 23 (Dec. 31, 2006)

Notes: Tennessee's last win in series came in 2002 (24-7 at home). Franchises
have met twice in the postseason, with Patriots earning 17-14 home decision in
2003 AFC Divisional Playoffs and Houston Oilers posting 31-14 home victory
over New England in 1978 AFC Divisional Playoffs.

New England used a top-rated pass attack to score over 500 points for a second
straight season in 2011. Brady led the charge with 5,235 passing yards -- the
second most in NFL history -- while completing 39 touchdown passes to 12
interceptions. He needs just 21 yards to become the 14th player in league
history to reach 40,000 in a career and has thrown at least one touchdown pass
in 32 straight games. The two-time NFL MVP loves to look for Welker (122
receptions, 9 TD) out of the slot and also helped Rob Gronkowski (90
receptions, 17 TD) put together one of the best seasons ever by a tight end.
His 1,327 receiving yards, 17 touchdown catches and 18 total scores were all
single-season records at the position, and he finished second in the AFC in
receiving yards to only Welker's 1,569. Fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez was
third on the club with 79 receptions, 910 receiving yards and seven scores.
With the Pats parting ways with both Deion Branch and Chad Johnson, free-agent
pickup Brandon Lloyd (70 receptions, 5 TD with Broncos and Rams) becomes
Brady's new deep threat. Though New England moves the ball through the air, it
doesn't have a problem putting it on the ground to score touchdowns.
Gronkowski scored a rushing touchdown in 2011, while BenJarvus Green-Ellis --
who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason -- had 11 rushing
scores. Stevan Ridley (441 rushing yards, 1 TD) takes over as the No. 1 back,
running behind a line that lost left tackle Matt Light to retirement this
offseason.

It is no surprise that the Titans struggled at times on defense last year
given that they got 39 starts from rookies, including 16 from strongside
linebacker Akeem Ayers (76 tackles, 2 sacks) and another 15 by defensive
tackle Jurrell Casey (52 tackles, 2.5 sacks). Both return to their starting
roles this year and no rookie is slated to start on the defensive side of
things in Week 1, though second-round pick Zach Brown could be a key
contributor at linebacker. The strength of the unit figures to be pressure
brought by ends Derrick Morgan (30 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and free-agent signee
Kamerion Wimbley (63 tackles, 7 sacks with Raiders), a former first-round pick
who has 16 sacks over the past two seasons. Weakside linebacker Will
Witherspoon (56 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT) offers a veteran presence alongside
Ayers and second-year middle man Colin McCarthy (68 tackles, 1 INT).
Cornerback Cortland Finnegan left as a free agent, leaving Alterraun Verner
(49 tackles, 1 INT) to start opposite leading tackler Jason McCourty (103
tackles, 1 sack, 2 INT). Free safety Michael Griffin (75 tackles, 2 INT) is
also a key part of the unit and tied McCourty for the club lead in
interceptions last season.

WHEN THE TITANS HAVE THE BALL

The Locker era begins on Sunday despite Hasselbeck (3571 passing yards, 18 TD,
14 INT) almost leading the Titans to a playoff spot last season. Still,
Tennessee drafted Locker to be the future and sees no reason keeping him on
the bench now. Though it will be the 24-year-old's first NFL start, he did get
into five games a season ago while completing 34-of-66 pass attempts for 542
yards, notching four touchdown passes without a pick. However, Locker will
have to wait one more week to begin building chemistry with No. 1 wide
receiver Kenny Britt, who was limited to just three games last year due to a
torn ACL. Though he is now healthy, he'll sit out Week 1 to serve a one-game
suspension handed down by the league for a July 20 arrest for driving under
the influence. That leaves Locker's main targets as wide receivers Nate
Washington (74 receptions, 7 TD), Damian Williams (45 receptions, 5 TD) and
rookie first-round draft choice Kendall Wright. Washington set career highs in
receptions, receiving yards (1,023) and touchdowns last year and Williams was
solid filling in for Britt last season. Tight end Jared Cook (49 receptions, 3
TD) also looks to take another step forward. Tennessee allowed just 24 sacks
last season, tied for the second-lowest total in the NFL, and added a seven-
time Pro Bowler in Hutchinson. He'll join a line that will try to make more
space for Chris Johnson (1047 rushing yards), who is coming off a frustrating
2011 campaign in which he rushed for the lowest total of his career. He also
scored just four touchdowns after finding the end zone 25 times on the ground
in his previous two seasons.

New England's defense aims to improve on its bend-not-break style from a year
ago, as opponents racked up yards against the unit but didn't find the
scoreboard with the same vigor. The Patriots turn to a pair of 2012 first-
round draft choices to help in defensive end Chandler Jones and linebacker
Dont'a Hightower as the club shifts to a 4-3 scheme. Former linebacker Rob
Ninkovich (74 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 2 INT) also drops down to an end spot
alongside tackles Vince Wilfork (52 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 INT), a four-time
Pro Bowl pick, and Kyle Love (33 tackles, 3 sacks). Outside linebacker Jerod
Mayo (95 tackles, 1 sacks, 2 INT) also is a key piece to the unit, which could
feature a solid secondary if cornerback Kyle Arrington (88 tackles, 7 INT) can
build off a 2011 campaign that saw him tie for the NFL lead in interceptions.
Even with a step back by fellow corner Devin McCourty (87 tackles, 2 INT)
following an excellent rookie campaign in 2010, New England led the AFC with a
plus-17 turnover margin last year and added veteran Steve Gregory (67 tackles,
1 INT with Chargers) in the offseason to start at free safety next to Patrick
Chung (62 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT).

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Regular-season success is nothing new to the Patriots and Locker has a mighty
task ahead of him, as he needs to keep pace with Brady and company. Moving the
ball against the New England defense won't be the hard part; that will be
matching an offense primed for another big season thanks to Brady, Welker,
Lloyd and returning offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The veteran unit
should have no problem finding the holes and forcing Tennessee's young players
into mistakes. The Pats should find their season-opening win streak extended
by weekend's end, while the Titans will get a gauge on how they stand heading
into a tough opening schedule that features some other talented offenses on
deck over the next few games.